Daily Reviews Summary 10/20/06

Intel currently has the fastest desktop CPU on the planet called the Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800. This CPU is head, shoulders, knees and toes above the FX-62 from AMD performance wise. From gaming to other computer applications both real world and synthetic, I ntel's X6800 has a commanding lead over AMDs best offering. If you are like me and have seen some of the 16 page reviews online and really just wanted to get to the chocolaty center of the X6800, this is the review for you.

nVIDIA has increased the value quotient in the GeForce 7600GT and if you're looking for a value/mainstream videocard, it'll probably have 7600GT stamped on its core. Gigabyte's take on the Geforce 7600GT comes in the form of the totally silent GV-NX76T256D-RH videocard. With the large silent cooling system, you get not just a fairly fast mainstream videocard, you also get something that's absolutely silent.

Alienware M9700 ReviewTechware Labs has published a review of the Alienware M9700 Gaming Laptop

With the m9700, Alienware introduces its' first SLI notebook for all gaming enthusiasts. The m9700 that Techwarelabs received came equiped with an AMD Turion 64 Mobile Processor ML44 at 2.4GHz 800MHz front side bus and 1MB of L2 Cache. This laptop has some serious features and comes ready to deliver a hard hitting performance punch. Check out the review to find out if the M9700 lives up to its specifications for performance and usability?Alienware M9700 Review

It's easy to sit back and say "he was a good boy -- he took it on the chin like a man", or so to speak, as the good folks at Intel would like to say about their rivals at Advanced Micro Devices. Conversely, you might quickly discover the error of your ways, if you've counted AMD out. As we're sure you're aware, the lumps don't go unanswered in this high-stakes game we call the semiconductor industry. Retribution is often sharp and swift. Capiche?

Recently we spent some time in private conference with AMD down in the lovely city of New York and learned of a few more details with respect to their upcoming "4X4" platform offering -- a two-chip, dual-core CPU bundle affectionately dubbed the "Quad Father". Though perhaps from a different Pacino era, might we offer, "say hello to my lil' friend".AMD Quad-Father 4X4 Update - Configurations Come Into Focus

Microsoft has released the newest version of its Internet Explorer Web browser. The new version 7 offers a lot of cosmetic changes, but is there enough added features to make it comparable with other alternative browsers?Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 Review

Icy Dock MB453 ReviewTechgage posted a review of Icy Docks MB453, which easily allows you to set up a 3 HDD RAID

With the introduction of the nForce 4 chipset we saw the beginning of cheap and easy mass storage options. With this revolutionary change we also see a need for Hot-swappable SATA drive bays for RAID-5 arrays made possible. Today we take a look at the new offering from ICY DOCK that allows for three drives in an easily achieved space.Icy Dock MB453 Review

If you pay close attention to Ferrari F1 cars driven by Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa (and, before him, Rubens Barrichello) you will notice an AMD logo on the tail. For the majority this simply means that AMD is paying to run an ad on Ferrari cars, but that isn’t the case. They are also providing the technology infrastructure for the car’s telemetry system, which collects data in real time and send to Ferrari team during the races, so they can check in real time if something is going wrong and also instruct the driver of corrections he should make in the way he is driving in order to achieve a higher performance during the race. The collected data are also collected for posterior analysis. We were invited by AMD to check out this impressive electronics system in person by visiting Ferrari’s boxes during the preparation of the last race of the 2006 F1 World Championship that will happen next weekend. Let’s talk more about this thrilling experience.AMD Technology on Ferrari Formula 1 Cars

Tipping the scales at 822 grams the Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX with its six 6mm heatpipes and 72 fins construction make this one of the best performing heatsinks on the market today. To add icing to the cake the Big Typhoon also has a speed adjustable 120mm fan attached to the top of it to allow a high air volume low noise setup. So come on along as we check this unit out and see just how well it performs.Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX Review

The X1950 Pro is built using the RV570 graphics core which features 256MB of GDDR3 memory, 36 pixel shaders, 8 vertex shaders, and 12 ROPs.To those of you paying attention these specs will look familiar; they are the same as featured with ATI’s X1900 GT graphics card. The RV570 is no chopped down R580 like the X1900 GT uses though--no core that couldn’t quite cut it. The RV570 was designed and built for the X1950 Pro and the mainstream performance segment with purpose and intent.ATI Radeon X1950 Pro Review

This isn't the largest heatsink fan I have reviewed, but it is the first with six separate heat-pipes and a set of two cooling fins. Does this design lead to better cooling? Well, the numbers in the testing don't lie. The Tt Typhoon VX was only a few degrees Celsius above a TEC cooler.Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX CPU Cooler Review

A little while ago we took a look at the Chakra case from Enermax. The case featured a huge 25cm side fan that took up almost the entire side of the case. Doubtful at first, I was surprised to see how well that case performed. Today we are looking at a similar case from Enermax that features the same 25cm side fan. The Phoenix is one of Enermax's newest cases and has a boatload of features including tool-less drive bays and PCI slots, 2 hidden CD-ROM covers and the huge 25cm fan. This case is designed to make everything easier for you so let's take a look.Enermax Phoenix Case Review

Due to the i975's predating the Core 2 Duo processor, there are lots of boards out there which don't support Intel's new processor. So a slew of updated boards have been arriving with Core 2 Duo support. Amongst these is Foxconn's 975X7AB, which replaces the 975X7AA. We take a look at what has changed.Foxconn 975X7AB Core 2 Duo Mobo Review

Two New Sockets For Nehalem In 2008VR-Zone is reporting that Intel will introduce two new sockets for their next generation Nehalem architecture

Intel is going to implement 2 new sockets for the next generation Nehalem architecture in 2008 and they are Socket B and Socket H. As we know, Nehalem is 45nm based and we are going to see some exciting changes such as IMC (Integrated Memory Controller) and CSI. Socket B will be LGA1366 and Socket H will be LGA715. The reason why Socket B has so many more contact pads is pretty obvious.Two New Sockets For Nehalem In 2008

[qoute]CrossFire worked without fault, but it wasn't without complications. I decided to try a mixed pair of cards – the Sapphire and the PowerColor. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get them working in CrossFire. On top of that, but I would frequently find while moving cards around, trying different combinations and even trying to revert back to the two Sapphire cards, I would often boot in to a black screen in Windows. It would seem that ATI still have a few issues to iron out, but this is definitely a strong step in the right direction.Sapphire X1950 Pro Review

The all-in-one machine has been the big hit in printing over the last five years, but nearly all of these have been in ink-jet machines. HP’s Color LaserJet CM1017MFP is only the second generation of all-in-ones based on colour laser technology. Although it appears to have a heavy price premium, this is a new model and you can expect street prices to come through considerably lower than quoted here.HP Color LaserJet CM1017MFP Review

The Ballistix 2GB (1GBx2) PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory Kit lives up to Crucial's long standing reputation for quality, while helping to bolster their newer presence in the performance system memory market. The PC2-6400 modules did well in testing, and the lower timings (4-4-4-12) helped this 2GB kit beat out another kit with more standard, 5-5-5-15 timings.Crucial Ballistix 2GB (1GBx2) PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory Kit Review

In keeping up with the competition, Silverstone have added a new unit to their modular PSU range. The ST75F boasts 150w more power than its predacessor, but will it perform any better?Silverstone Strider 750w ST75F PSU Review